My meditations - Ecclesiastes 3

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
What gain has the worker from his toil?
I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;
also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil--this is God's gift to man.
I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.
That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.
Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.
I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.
I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts.
For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.
All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.
Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?
So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?

Blessed are...

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Matthew 5:3-12

Psa 55:16-17

Psa 55:16-17
But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.
Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.

I need You to hear me.. I'm feeling rather overwhelmed these few days... There's so much to do and so little time to finish... The help that was supposed to come is sick...And as time keeps on ticking, more things seems to be piled on top of it... Please help me through this week... Not for my sake, but for the sake of those that You've asked me to care for...

Psalm 138

I've come to appreciate this psalm lately.


Of David. I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
3 When I called,a you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.
4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth.
5 May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.
6 Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever-- do not abandon the works of your hands.

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Prayer

Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.
- Psalm 4:1 -

Psalm 91

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the LORD,
"My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust."
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
Because you have made the LORD your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
For he will command his angels
concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me,
I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.

To fall in love again...

I want to fall in love with You again
It seems like it's been a while since I've truly been with You
Perhaps it's the mundane rhythm of life
That has crowded out the space between you and me
The vibrant colours now all seem to be just gray
The joyous dance has now become a crawl
The meaningful has become meaningless - boring even

I want to fall in love with You again
Perhaps when I am once more found in You
I'll find myself again

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. -Psalm 130:5-6

My Funny Father

Last week when I went for a trip with my family, I was reminded of how funny my father is. Before heading for our family vacation, we went to Camerons to pick my dad up. I was feeling rather crappy by the end of the journey and had a terrible headache and was coughing quite a storm. So I asked my dad for some panadol before we went out for dinner. Naturally, I was expecting this from my dad:


Instead, I got this:



Hahaha. If you read the label carefully, you'd realise there are ONE THOUSAND tablets in the bottle(Btw - just realised that the man on the left hand side of the pic is my dad! Didn't realised that he was there when I took the pic. *grin). The bottle was half full and I had to put it in my handbag (couldn't find anything to put the tablets in at the time and my head was really pounding) and head off to dinner. As soon as I finished eating, I brought it out and my mum and my siblings laughed till they cried when I explained why I had this humongous bottle of paracetamol with me. My father was quite amused as well.

After dinner, we went back to the house and my cough was quite bad so my dad found some cough medicine for me. He then said that he'd get me some water to down the medicine. Instead of getting a glass of water, he passed me this:

A 5 Liter mineral water bottle! My siblings just laughed and laughed and laughed. In the end, I had to find my water bottle and pour the water into it. My dad was just really funny that evening.

Looking on the bright side, all these antics reminded me of these verses:
Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

The criteria of a disciple of Christ

For our Mark class, I have chosen to do an exegesis on the verses below. I thought to do this text in view of Easter as well as some discussions I've been having with my college group bunch. As I do the study on the text, I find it rather sobering and there's much to ponder about - especially in the how much we have ignored certain things in this text in our view of what a follower of Christ should be. As suggested by my lecturer, have been doing quite a fair bit of reading on the scope of 'denying oneself' and 'taking up the cross'. What I've come across have been rather mind boggling and definitely soul changing as I personally continue to grapple with the implications this verse have upon myself as well. Will *try* to write more on this in the coming days.

Mark 8:34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

Loving our neighbours

Last night we had a speaker, Michael William from FES on Hinduism in CUG. I must say that he was pretty good and flexible (and patient!) in sharing with the college group people. One thing I really appreciate about the college group is that they really have a lot of questions to ask about a topic that they don't know - and they are not afraid to ask it... This means that in the course of teaching them, the facilitator has just got to be prepared for detours. *grin

I learnt a few new things from last nite. Most of all, I appreciated the speaker's caution at the end of the sharing. He gently cautioned the college group that while we learn about hinduism, it should not be a point for the group to get puffed up with the new knowledge and to criticize the people of other faiths. Rather, it should serve as a reminder for us to love others and to understand where they come from. It strongly brought to mind about a talk that we had on Islam in STM last year and the impact it had on my life thereafter.

Galatians 5:14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Psalm 92 - A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,
3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.
5 How great are your works, O LORD, how profound your thoughts!
6 The senseless man does not know, fools do not understand,
7 that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish,
they will be forever destroyed.
8 But you, O LORD, are exalted forever.
9 For surely your enemies, O LORD, surely your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.
10 You have exalted my horn {10 Horn here symbolizes strength.} like that of a wild ox;
fine oils have been poured upon me.
11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.
12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, "The LORD is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

Verse for the day

Don't ask me why, but I tend to get rather melancholy whenever I have to write assignments. This semester's no different (and it's worse in some ways. :p). Was reminded of this verse yesterday in the midst of my assignment.

Hard pressed...

Feeling hard pressed on every side
There's the pile of assignments screaming for attention
The never ending demands of ministering in church
People to meet and minister to
Friends and family to spend time with
Issues to be resolved

How is Your voice heard in the midst of the roar?
Where Your words speaks, it seems to be drowned next by the demands of life
Time with You seems so inadequate
The soul barely rests in You before moving on
It longs for green pastures, for the quiet waters
For restoration....

Ps 23
The LORD is my shepherd
I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures
he leads me beside quiet waters
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 16

Aunty Lai Sheong read this passage today to me. It really spoke to me and encouraged me as I prepare to leave.

A miktam of David.

1 Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."
3 As for the saints who are in the land,
they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood

or take up their names on my lips.
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
11 You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Thank You God for Your words of life and comfort. Thank You for hope.

Psalm 46 - A reminder

A song.
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her,
she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar,
kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields {9 Or chariots} with fire.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah